Toy vehicle



p v5,1967 LA VERNE E. BOWERS 3,339,939

TOY VEHICLE Filed Dec. 29, 1964 INVENTOR. Fr Z 7 VERA/E E. Bowms m M TM ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,339,939 TOY VEHICLE La Verne E. Bowers, 1611 College Ave., Modesto, Calif. 95350 Filed Dec. 29, 1964, Ser. No. 421,821 3 Claims. (Cl. 28087.01)

This invention relates to toys and more particularly relates to toy vehicles for children.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved toy vehicle, for a child passenger between the ages of three and ten years, which moves in any desired direction and which may rotate or twirl as desired.

Some childrens vehicles disclosed in the prior art are used to help babies learn to walk or to exercise babies, such as the so-ca-lled baby-walkers and portable play pens for example. All of these vehicles are clearly impractical for children between the ages of three and ten years. Such vehicles include in general a flexible seat supported by flexible straps or springs which is not practical for sudden motions such as the rotation and twirling envisaged in the present invention, because the rotation of the frame of the vehicle will produce a torque force on the flexible seat which may injure the passenger.

Furthermore, some of the so-called baby-walker devices are provided with openings for the legs of the child so that the childs feet come in contact with the ground. If such vehicles were to be used as toy vehicles with rotating or twirling motions, injury to the childs limbs is easily foreseen.

Accordingly another object of this invention is to provide an improved, safe toy vehicle for children comprising a solid circular base mounted on a plurality of wheels rotatable around the vertical axis to permit motion of the vehicle in any given direction. A solid circular upholstered portion is fixedly mounted on the base to provide a seat for the passenger. The upholstered portion is made of a soft sponge-like material to provide comfortable riding conditions. Because the seat portion is fixedly mounted on the base, a rotary motion or twirling imparted to the vehicle does not produce a torque force on the seat which may be transmitted to the child causing injury.

In addition, because the upholstered seat issolid with no openings for the legs, injury to the limbs of the child is also prevented.

Also disclosed in the prior art, as mentioned above, are portable playing pens or nursery seats which may be considered vehicles in that such devices are capable of translation. The envisaged use of such devices, as is apparent from the description above, is to provide a place for infants to play which may be easily relocated within the room or within different places in a home. Such devices include a body made of flexible material, such as canvas for example, and which is shaped to form a basket or rest with a plurality of sides sufliciently high to prevent the infant from either falling off or accidentally climbing out.

Accordingly, a further object of this invention is to provide an improved toy vehicle comprising a solid unitary structure adaptable for safe rotation and twirling and which comprises a plurality of circularly spaced legs mounted on a solid base which support a solid circular handrail. Each pair of legs in combination with the base and handrail define openings to permit easy ingress and egress from the vehicle, without having to climb over the handrail.

In addition an elongated element, such as a rope for example, is attached to the vehicle embodying the invention to provide a motion-imparting force. Thus, by pull ing on the rope in a desired direction the vehicle is moved in a rotary or twirling motion. Moreover, under some circumstances, the passenger may impart the desired motion himself. For example, by projecting his limbs through one or two of the openings through the spaces provided between the supporting legs, and by pushing against a wall or any other solid structure the vehicle will move in the desired direction.

Other objects and advantages will become more apparent when reading the following specification in conjection with drawings of an embodiment of the invention wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective schematic diagram of a vehicle embodying the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a side view of the vehicle shown in FIG. 1. Reference is now made to FIG; 1 wherein a toy vehicle 10 embodying the invention is illustrated. A base 12 of substantially circular disc-like shape is mounted on a plurality of wheels 14 to enable the vehicle 10 to move in any desired direction.

The wheels 14 may be well known casters of a desired size, and may be provided with rubber tires if desired. The wheels 14, as is well known, may rotate in any given direction around the vertical axis so that the vehicle 10 may also move on the ground in any desired direction.

A fiat upholstered portion 16, made of a soft, spongelike material, such as foam rubber for example, is fixedly mounted on the solid base 12 to provide the seat for a passenger. The size of the base 12 and the seat 16 may vary depending on the number of passengers desired to ride on the vehicle simultaneously. A typical base for a vehicle designed for a single child passenger may be approximately 23 inches in diameter, but the base 12 may be smaller if desired. The seat 16 in turn is smaller than the base 12, as shown in FIG. 1, and it may be of any given thickness. A typical seat may be approximately one inch thick.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the base 12 and the seat 16 form a unitary structure. A support rail 18, which as shown in the drawings is formed in the shape of a ring, is made of a solid material such as metal for example. In the typical example given above, the handrail may be of approximately twenty inches in diameter. The support rail or handrail 18 is fixedly mounted on the base 12 by means of a plurality of legs 20. As illustrated in FIG. 1, in order to provide suflicient spacing between the legs to permit easy access into and out of the vehicle the number of legs employed is equal to four in the exemplary vehicle described above.

The support rail or handrail 18 permits the passenger to support himself by holding the rail with his hands. The handrail may thus avoid injury of the passenger by falling off in case of a sudden turn or spin or even in case of a collision. It should be noted that the diameter of the handrail 18 is smaller than the diameter of the base 12 to avoid injuring the hands of the passenger in case of a collision; the periphery of the base 12 is the only possible colliding portion against surfaces such as walls for example.

A rope 22 is attached to one of the legs 20 to apply a force to the vehicle which imparts the motion in the desired direction. It should be understood that other means may be utilized to apply the driving force. However, in an inexpensively built device in accordance to the invention a rope is a practical means to apply a pulling, rotative or twirling force as desired.

In operation, a child sits on the seat 16 and supports himself on the handrail 18. The operator, another child or an adult person, pulls the vehicle in the desired direction by applying a pulling force to the rope 22. The op erator may, if desired, rotate the vehicle by applying a force in the proper direction, or twirl the vehicle, or

after pulling the vehicle in a desired direction release the vehicle to move in a predetermined path.

In order to prevent damage to the vehicle, a rubber bumper (not shown) of approximately one half inch in thickness may be provide-d to circumscribe the base 12. Although the vehicle embodying the invention has been described with certain dimensions, such description is merely by way of example. If the device is designed with a base 12 sufficiently large to permit a child passenger to sit in a manner such that the weight of the passenger is eccentric with respect to the vehicle, a more pronounced twirling effect will be provided. Also in a vehicle with a larger base several passengers may ride simultaneously.

It should be understood that certain modifications of the embodiment described above are within the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle comprising in combination: a solid base; means including an upholstered portion fixedly mounted on said base to provide a seat for a child passenger in said vehicle, said upholstered portion defining a relatively large fiat non-apertured horizontal seating area, said base being of a suificient diameter to receive the entire body and limbs of said passenger in a sitting position; a plurality of wheels pivotally mounted on said base to permit movement of said vehicle over a floor surface, each of said wheels being rotatable around a vertical axis to permit movement of said vehicle in any desired direction; a plurality of legs fixedly mounted on said base circumscribing said seat in circular spaced relation; and a circular handrail of smaller diameter than said base mounted on said pluralty of legs to provide a hand support for said passenger, said handrail in combination with said base and with adjacent of said legs defining spaces of sufficient magnitude to permit said passenger to enter and egress from said vehicle.

2. A vehicle comprising in combination: a solid circular base having a first diameter; means including an upholstered portion fixedly mounted on said base to provide a seat for a child passenger in said vehicle, said upholstered portion defining a relatively large flat nonapertured horizontal seating area, said base being of a sufficient diameter to receive the entire body and limbs of said passenger in a sitting position; a plurality of wheels pivotally mounted on said base to permit movement of said vehicle over a floor surface, each of said wheels being rotatable around a vertical axis to permit horizontal movement of said vehicle in any desired direction; a plurality of substantially vertical legs fixedly mounted on said base circumscribing said seat in circular spaced relation; a circular handrail having a diameter less than the diameter of said base mounted on said plurality of legs to provide a hand support for said passenger, said handrail in combination with said base and with adjacent of said legs defining a plurality of spaces, said spaces being of sufficient magnitude to permit said passenger to enter and egress from said vehicle; and

, for mounting said disc on said plurality of casters so that said vehicle is capable of translation in any given direction; a plurality of vertical legs mounted on said disc externally from said seat in spaced circular relation; a circular guard handrail having a diameter smaller than the diameter of said disc mounted on said plurality of legs to provide support for said child passengers, said disc defining in combination with adjacent of said plurality of legs and with said handrail a plurality of spaces sufiiciently large to permit said passenger to ingress and to egress from said vehicle; and a rope attached to one of said legs for applying a pulling force on said vehicle to move said vehicle in a desired direction.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,189,647 7/1916 Anderson 27231 1,895,737 1/1933 Shaw 280-8701 X 2,219,905 10/1940 Prickman 280-8701 X 2,351,293 6/1944 Saunders 28087.04 X 2,448,427 8/1948 Gordon 28087.01 X 3,055,024 9/1962 Schmit-t 114--0.5 X 3,196,228 7/1965 Chion 1140.5 X 3,197,227 7/1965 Anselmo 280 87.01

FOREIGN PATENTS 135,503 6/ 1933 Austria. 667,930 3/1952 Great Britain.

BENJAMIN H'ERSH, Primary Examiner.

CHARLES C. PARSONS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A VEHICLE COMPRISING IN COMBINATION: A SOLID BASE; MEANS INCLUDING AN UPHOLSTERED PORTION FIXEDLY MOUNTED ON SAID BASE TO PROVIDE A SEAT FOR A CHILD PASSENGER IN SAID VEHICLE, SAID UPHOLSTERED PORTION DEFINING A RELATIVELY LARGE FLAT NON-APERTURED HORIZONTAL SEATING AREA, SAID BASE BEING OF A SUFFICIENT DIAMETER TO RECEIVE THE ENTIRE BODY AND LIMBS OF SAID PASSENGER IN A SITTING POSITION; A PLURALITY OF WHEELS PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID BASE TO PERMIT MOVEMENT OF SAID VEHICLE OVER A FLOOR SURFACE, EACH OF SAID WHEELS BEING ROTATABLE AROUND A VERTICAL AXIS TO PERMIT MOVEMENT OF SAID VEHICLE IN ANY DESIRED DIRECTION; A PLURALITY OF LEGS FIXEDLY MOUNTED ON SAID BASE CIRCUMSCRIBING SAID SEAT IN CIRCULAR SPACED RELATION; AND A CIRCULAR HANDRAIL OF SMALLER DIAMETER THAN SAID BASE MOUNTED ON SAID PLURALITY OF LEGS TO PROVIDE A HAND SUPPORT FOR SAID PASSENGER, SAID HANDRAIL IN COMBINATION WITH SAID BASE AND WITH ADJACENT OF SAID LEGS DEFINING SPACES OF SUFFICIENT MAGNITUDE TO PERMIT SAID PASSENGER TO ENTER AND EGRESS FROM SAID VEHICLE. 